Whether you watch PBS for concerts, documentaries or kid’s shows, they’ve got programming for everyone. Today, Libby Collins is joined by Vice President and General Manager of Milwaukee PBS, Debbie Hamlett. Debbie discusses the most popular PBS shows, the process of a PBS project from conception to national distribution, and much more. It’s all ahead on today’s WTMJ Conversations! Listen in the player above.
A partial transcript is provided below, courtesy of eCourt Reporters.
LIBBY COLLINS: You mentioned children’s TV. And Sesame Street, which premiered — was that in the late ’60s or early ’70s?
DEBBIE HAMLETT: Probably like 55 years on now.
LIBBY COLLINS: But that’s where, I think, PBS really got on people’s radar.
DEBBIE HAMLETT: Oh, absolutely.
LIBBY COLLINS: Because it was a phenomenon at the time.
DEBBIE HAMLETT: There was nothing like it. You know, I would venture to say there’s nothing still like it.
LIBBY COLLINS: It’s become part of our culture.
DEBBIE HAMLETT: Absolutely.
LIBBY COLLINS: But the interesting thing is the producers of that show knew not just how to appeal to children but also to appeal to adults.
DEBBIE HAMLETT: Yeah, absolutely, I think they were looking for a way to communicate with parents and kids that brought them in the same room, you know, that exposed all kinds of people who live on a street and showed a life that was real in a lot of communities.